"Reflect" by Curtis Fowlkes & Catfish Corner
Source: All Music Guide
Trombonist Fowlkes & keyboardist/co-producer Ted Cruz have a pretty
good concept on how to juice
up modern mainstream and contemporary jazz modes. Toss in a little
Fender Rhodes piano, some hot
house horns, an occasional funky twist or hard swinging beats and you
have Catfish Corner. Fowlkes
and Cruz are joined by the quite substantial contributions of alto
saxophonist Sam Furnace, trumpeter
Russ Johnson, bassist Carlos Henderson and drummer J.T. Lewis. Their
collective sounds cross many
improvisational demarcations, but is rooted in the post-bop originality of
the '50s. The material, 7 of 9
pieces written by Fowlkes, each have a flavor of their own. The introductory
"Treasure Chest" cooks
nicely in 6/8, replete with wonderful interplay from the front liners,
Furnace's smouldering alto and
Cruz on electric Rhodes defining the sound and centering their focus.
"What Was...Is," a statement unto
itself, is a straight swinger with organ fed urgency, a call-and-response
clarion head, and Furnace in a
Dolphy-esque mood. "Sacred Monster" turns a corner in a loping waltz
mode with Cruz's Rhodes again
setting the pace. Going into Mwandishi cum Horace Silver territory, "Blue
Teardrops Falling" is nearly 11
minutes of undiluted workout, with funky blues reserve and wah-wah
keyboards especially on Cruz's
innovative solo. Fowlkes, a sweet and satisfying trombonist with no excess
or aftertaste, takes the lead
on three selections, two of them ballads; "Ashe" (he is a sports fan so this
must be for the late great
tennis pro Arthur Ashe,) a beautifully patient anticipatory refrain, and the
standard "When I Fall In
Love,"
with stacked themes of longing and waiting. The trombonist also takes
charge on a marvelous
interpretation of fellow trombonist Grachan Moncur III's classic hard bop-
to-latin themed flag waver
"The Coaster," his fellow bandmembers urging him on with background
horn charts that punctuate his
lean, mean melody lines. Most atypical, but still quite good, is a two
note/same note repeated phrase
on "Walker Snead" that sets up electric rock guitar of guest Duncan Cleary,
and the monotone poetic
"jazz legacy-where do we go from here?" rap of Sheila Prevost on the funky
title track. Much very good
bordering on great jazz to be heard here, and we suspect just a scraping of
the surface for what
Folwkes and his friends have in store in the not too distant future.
Recommended with no reservation. ~
Michael G. Nastos, All Music Guide
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"Reflect" by Curtis Fowlkes & Catfish Corner
Source: All Music Guide
Trombonist Fowlkes & keyboardist/co-producer Ted Cruz have a pretty
good concept on how to juice
up modern mainstream and contemporary jazz modes. Toss in a little
Fender Rhodes piano, some hot
house horns, an occasional funky twist or hard swinging beats and you
have Catfish Corner. Fowlkes
and Cruz are joined by the quite substantial contributions of alto
saxophonist Sam Furnace, trumpeter
Russ Johnson, bassist Carlos Henderson and drummer J.T. Lewis. Their
collective sounds cross many
improvisational demarcations, but is rooted in the post-bop originality of
the '50s. The material, 7 of 9
pieces written by Fowlkes, each have a flavor of their own. The introductory
"Treasure Chest" cooks
nicely in 6/8, replete with wonderful interplay from the front liners,
Furnace's smouldering alto and
Cruz on electric Rhodes defining the sound and centering their focus.
"What Was...Is," a statement unto
itself, is a straight swinger with organ fed urgency, a call-and-response
clarion head, and Furnace in a
Dolphy-esque mood. "Sacred Monster" turns a corner in a loping waltz
mode with Cruz's Rhodes again
setting the pace. Going into Mwandishi cum Horace Silver territory, "Blue
Teardrops Falling" is nearly 11
minutes of undiluted workout, with funky blues reserve and wah-wah
keyboards especially on Cruz's
innovative solo. Fowlkes, a sweet and satisfying trombonist with no excess
or aftertaste, takes the lead
on three selections, two of them ballads; "Ashe" (he is a sports fan so this
must be for the late great
tennis pro Arthur Ashe,) a beautifully patient anticipatory refrain, and the
standard "When I Fall In
Love,"
with stacked themes of longing and waiting. The trombonist also takes
charge on a marvelous
interpretation of fellow trombonist Grachan Moncur III's classic hard bop-
to-latin themed flag waver
"The Coaster," his fellow bandmembers urging him on with background
horn charts that punctuate his
lean, mean melody lines. Most atypical, but still quite good, is a two
note/same note repeated phrase
on "Walker Snead" that sets up electric rock guitar of guest Duncan Cleary,
and the monotone poetic
"jazz legacy-where do we go from here?" rap of Sheila Prevost on the funky
title track. Much very good
bordering on great jazz to be heard here, and we suspect just a scraping of
the surface for what
Folwkes and his friends have in store in the not too distant future.
Recommended with no reservation. ~
Michael G. Nastos, All Music Guide
"The four musicians in Juke are each outstanding instrumentalists and
composers in their own right.
Collectively, they bring an intriguing array of influences and a formidable
wealth of chops to the table
and put a fresh spin on the contemporary electric jazz ensemble. While
their individual bodies of work
span every conceivable genre and milieu (club gigs, tours, studio work, film
scoring, etc.), there can be
no arguing that at heart, these are jazz men, players who improvise with
personal voices, stretching
and pushing boundaries, be they rhythmic, harmonic, textural, or what-
have-you.
“THE SKY ON MARS” kicks things off in a modal, 6/8 bag,
allowi
ng plenty of
space for inspired solos by keyboardist Ted Cruz and guitarist Aurelien
Budynek.
“GREEN DUST,” spotlighting work on the seldom-heard fretless guitar
and doing nothing to dispel the futuristic, sci-fi funk vibe saturating the p
roceedings. Ted once again
fires off an exciting solo on the Fender Rhodes as well.
The final tune, “JUKE,” lends its name to the band and reveals the
compelling compositional talent of
keyboardist Cruz. The song is emblematic of the band’s approach in
general, a study in contrasts which
here include an edgy, rhythmic unison line, a warmer ensemble passage
and a sequence of “tutti” hits
that launch more burning solos from Aurelien and Ted.
While I listened to the men of Juke do their thing I couldn’t help but think
of the future. Yes, there are
futuristic themes here, reflected by some of the song titles, and there are
certainly futuristic sounds
coming from the instruments of each of the players. But it’s the players
themselves who represent the
future for me, a new breed of musician who is uncompromising in his
integrity and skill, who is more
open to a wider swath of influences then ever before, and who knows how
to integrate that incoming
data into his own expression. These are men who speak with their own
voices and listen with enormous
ears to the universe of sound we all live in. Together, they push the
margins of that universe a little bit
further every time they play."
* * * —Toby Wine, CHERRY LANE MUSIC PUB.
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